The Italo-Swiss Valmalenco-Valposchiavo closes registrations with a bang

07.06.2007

Yet again, there is a record number of competitors for the Italo-Swiss skyrace, which will confer the European title for this speciality on Sunday, June 10th. On Monday the organising committee officially closed registrations for the race, which had reached the 500-participant maximum. “The 2007 competition will count as the one and only contest for the European Championship, although we have a truly world-wide character to our starting list,” the event’s director, Nicolao Lanfranchi confirmed with satisfaction.

“In addition to the 500 registered participants, there will be about 75 top runners invited by the organising committee, among them, to name but a few, Helmut Schiessl, Ricardo Mejia, Billy Burns, Walter Becerra, Dennis Brunod, Roc Augusti, Jean Pellissier, Fabio Bonfanti, Gloriani Pellissier, Angela Baronchelli, Monica Moreiras, Corinne Favre, Anna Serra and Ruth Pickwance.”

Breaking news is the participation of Marco de Gasperi. “He confirmed his participation on Monday morning,” continued Nicolao Lanfranchi. “Marco is a great champion, as well as a great friend. With someone like him at the starting line, previous predictions will obviously be blown wide open.” As the five-times mountain-running world champion confirmed, his participation will not be just a token presence.

“I’ve tried the competition course, and I liked it very much,” explained de Gasperi. “My target this season is the mountain-running world championships in September. My manager, Gianbattista Scanzi, and I have discussed the idea and we consider that such a middle- to long-distance test shouldn’t adversely affect my preparation timetable. My decision was therefore made taking everything into consideration. Besides which, even if I don’t achieve a good place, a prestigious showcase event like the Valmalenco-Valposchiavo can only add lustre and prominence to the club I represent.” Being a prodigiously talented racer with an ideal background in the world of skyrunning, the runner from Bormio is, however, under no illusions: “The first skyrace I ran was at the age of 16, and the most recent was the 2003 event in Malaysia. Though I have specialised in shorter-distance events, I’ve always liked competitions of this type. On Sunday, I’ll start with the aim of achieving as high a place as possible, but I already know it won’t be easy. One unknown factor will be my ability to stay the distance; the other will be the quality of my fellow-competitors. Adversaries like Helmut Schiessl or Ricardo Mejia, just to mention a couple, are certainly to be feared.”